The Right to Development in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic

The emergence of the post-Mugabe government sparked a frenzy of speculation about whether it heralds the beginning of a new era or simply more of the same. Against the “open for business” slogan and positive language around rights implementation, we assess if the new administration genuinely understands and is committed to implement Zimbabwe’s right to development. The Zimbabwean Constitution recognises a distinct right to development, following the spirit of the African Charter. The right to development is therefore more than just a social or political demand; it is also a legal right with enforceable legal responsibilities on governments to promote, defend, and fulfil the right to development. The Second Republic’s shortcoming has been in failing to deliver on its promises. This is seen in its reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. While it sought to establish a suitable legislative framework for dealing with the pandemic, it failed horribly in putting its policies into action. For example, Zimbabwe’s government has failed to show transparency in how it handled millions of dollars of donated funds for the pandemic. Corruption was allowed to run helter-skelter and the Minister of Health was implicated in swindling almost, if not, all the donations. All this was taking place while lives were at stake. Further, the opposition contends that the government’s democratic rhetoric is not matching with what is obtained on the ground and cites the persecution of opposition leaders, labour leaders and civil society activists, among other issues. This exemplifies the typical government practice of failing to live up to the constitutional obligation of ensuring the right to development on a consistent basis. The Mnangagwa government has failed to implement the right to development in practice, despite putting in place policy and legislation consistent with the right to development. In this respect, even on what would seem like a safe and risk-free policy initiative (after all, who would argue against the right to development), the Mnangagwa’s government’s formative project falls short.